everyone has to lose their way once

Welcome to Baton Pass, a shrine dedicated to the character Kyoko Honda from the manga Fruits Basket by Natsuki Takaya, created as part of Onigiri Box, a Fruits Basket marathon.

Most people discard their childhood like an old hat. They forget it like a phone number that is no longer valid. […] Once they were children, then they became adults, but what are they now? Only someone who grows up but remains a child is a human. Erich Kästner (German author)

Fruits Basket’s protagonist and biggest force is Tohru Honda, orphaned for not even a year since her mother passed away in spring. Although Kyoko is no longer among the living by the time the story begins, her presence remains strong throughout the series as Tohru preserves her memory and passes on the wisdoms Kyoko imparted and embodied. Just as Fruits Basket without Tohru is unimaginable, there is no Fruits Basket without Kyoko.

I’ve written this shrine with two words in mind: optimism and hope. Just as Fruits Basket and Kyoko helped me through difficult and lonely times, my wish is for this shrine to be something that inspires others when they are beaten or lost, and think that they are alone and won’t make it through the dark. Kyoko is, to me, a beacon of hope, and I hope that Baton Pass will keep her light burning.

Note that there are unmarked spoilers all across the site. Kyoko’s presence, however, primarily serves as inspiration; for the most part, she doesn’t directly affect the main story. Start and Legacy serve as thematic introductions (avoid “Kyo Sohma”), Journey tells Kyoko’s backstory; Resonance is an analysis of the series’ narrative and is full of spoilers, whereas Finish Line is a thematic analysis and can be safely read even as an introduction.

The content is based on the German publication by Carlsen (2003–2010); English translations provided by various scanlation groups are consulted secondarily. (Please consider buying Fruits Basket’s English rerelease by Yen Press if you enjoy the series; the translations of the available scans are very off and clunky in many parts.) Cited passages are my own translation. The anime adaptation of the series is not part of this shrine.

The site is intended to be viewed at a minimum resolution of 1024x768.

If there are any thoughts you’d like to share, I’d be delighted about any feedback in my guestbook. Thanks a lot for your visit! ❤

listed at: Emotion
last update: June 2022